Handheld tools, such as wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers, are commonly used in a wide range of applications. To facilitate project productivity, a large quantity of tools is commonly maintained in an organized fashion within a designated workspace, such as a commercial or residential workshop.
In many environments, tool monitoring and accountability is essential. For instance, aircraft construction and/or maintenance workshops typically utilize a large quantity of very specific tools. The accountability of such tools is essential not only to prevent workplace theft, as many of the individual tools are often expensive in nature, but also to ensure proper aircraft safety. As can be appreciated, inadvertent misplacement of a single instrument within the body of an aircraft can pose significant dangers. As a result, in such precarious environments, it is essential that the workspace be limited to only the tools that are truly required and, in turn, maintained with full accountability for each tool.
Accordingly, tool storage devices, commonly referred to in the art simply as toolboxes, are designed to collect and retain a set of individual tools in an organized fashion. One type of toolbox which is well known in the art includes a cabinet, or chest, which houses a plurality of individual, slidable drawers. Each drawer includes an insert, often foam or rubber in construction, which is provided with a plurality of uniquely configured recesses, each recess being shaped to fittingly receive a corresponding tool. In this manner, a set of tools can be organized for ease of access and storage. Often, each recess is coated with a bright color to help recognize when a particular tool is not present in the storage device.
An electronic, or smart, toolbox is one type of toolbox that electronically monitors the presence of individual tools retained therein. Specifically, a plurality of sensors is provided in the toolbox to account for the presence of each instrument, with one sensor designated for each tool. In turn, each sensor in each drawer of the toolbox is connected to a common, or main, controller. As such, a single controller can monitor the presence of every tool within the toolbox, log historical data, and provide appropriate notifications to the user regarding instrument status via a monitor in communication therewith (e.g., all instruments present, tool x missing from toolbox, etc.). Additionally, smart tool boxes are often provided with login capabilities (e.g., using RFID technology) to correlate the accountability of instruments with certain personnel.
Smart toolboxes of the type as described above are uniquely designed and programmed for a specific set of instruments. This ad hoc nature of smart toolboxes introduces a notable shortcoming. Specifically, it has been found that certain worksites often engage in a variety of different undertakings, each task often requiring a unique set of instruments. For example, an aircraft construction workspace may be used to work on different models of aircraft engines, with each model requiring a unique set of instruments.
Under the circumstance set forth above, the preprogrammed, unmodifiable configuration of conventional smart toolboxes does not afford the user with the ability to readily swap certain tools from the set (e.g., for a new project or if certain instruments require upgrading or replacement). Rather, every time a single instrument is added or removed from the set of tools, the main controller needs to be reprogrammed to reflect the change in inventory (e.g., by shipping the smart tool box back to the manufacturer for reprogramming). As a consequence, the use of conventional smart toolboxes in complex, potentially dangerous and/or high volume work environments has been found to be both time consuming and highly inefficient.
Further, smart toolboxes of the type as described above have been found to be relatively expensive to implement. In particular, the main controller is required to, inter alia, (i) monitor the status of every tool and drawer in the toolbox, (ii) log historical tool use data, and (iii) interface with workspace personnel and administrators to provide access to such data. To meet all its functional requirements, the main controller needs substantial processing power, which commensurately increases overall manufacturing costs.